Marathon Training Thread

[The_Douger]

I'm not sure I'll be able to run a Marathon. I went to the doctor Friday and he mentioned that my knee issues may be a result of 15 years of obesity, not running. We'll wait and see what a specialist has to say, but I may need to revise my goals downward... 5 and 10ks may be my ceiling.

There's nothing wrong with that. I'm too damn fat right now to run a marathon.

Half marathon has been a good distance for me, and i"m excited to do another one in April.

There's nothing wrong with getting really good at doing 10k.

[Eddie]

Well...I must be training for Ogden, because I have once again pulled my soleus in my right leg.

It is getting beyond frustrating. I swear, this is the only thing I train for where this has ever happened.

So I'm back to staying off of it for a week or two, slowly building the miles back in, rearranging my training schedule to drop at least one 20 miler, and revisiting any goals I may have had for a finish time...

ARGHH!

[Joe Public]

Well...I must be training for Ogden, because I have once again pulled my soleus in my right leg.

It is getting beyond frustrating. I swear, this is the only thing I train for where this has ever happened.

So I'm back to staying off of it for a week or two, slowly building the miles back in, rearranging my training schedule to drop at least one 20 miler, and revisiting any goals I may have had for a finish time...

ARGHH!

Sorry to hear that, Eddie.

[Parrot Head]

Due to a lot of work, a seminary week, some other general craziness and extreme sadness at finding out that my internet mistress never even existed, I haven't gotten around to following up on the Disney Half until now. It will be no nikumentary, but I'll give my thoughts...

What a fun race! I echo the thoughts of others here who have said it's a great family experience and, while our kids weren't there at 5:30 am to cheer us on (though one was awake with Grandma at that time), they really enjoyed their time there.

1) the kids races are great. Parents can run the 100-meter dash or the Mickey Mile with the younger kids and that was such a fun time that I do not want to forget. My younger daughter was reticent to go fast as we got ready for the race, but then she saw others and she decided to "practice" by zipping back and forth. By the time our wave left, she was ready to tear it up. She was excited to see Mickey and to high-5 him at the end and she knows about our post-run refueling, so when they offered her water, bananas and snacks, she was all for that. The Mickey Mile with my 7-year was great, too. She asked me to run with her and we had such a good time and the jumping in and out of crowds served as some prep for the half. Again, they treated them like racers with the medal, the food and the excitement and all of the kids really enjoyed that.

2) It's not the best place to PR. I'm not sure how many side-to-side miles I put in. And while the beginning wasn't quite as horribly congested as I had feared, it was still slow-going and it's hard to recover from a 10:41 on the first mile. There are also a few hairpins, especially at the end, that add to the difficulty. I made 3 solid kicks down the final stretch and felt great, but then I got blocked by people or clogged at the turns and narrow roads inside Epcot. Finally, I had to settle for finishing :06 behind my SIL as we both came up a little short of our time goals.

3) Stunning and so alive. What a great place to run. As PAC mentioned, the castle post-Christmas was awesome and I'm not a Disney freak at all. Running through Main Street was so much fun and the crowd support throughout was very impressive for the time of day we were there. As we left the Magic Kingdom around mile 7, the speakers were blaring some Journey and Springsteen and I that gave me an awesome rush of adrenaline. I wish, though, I had that on the overpasses near the end.

4) People watching is great. As I lumbered up the first major overpass, feeling tired, I saw a fireman in full gear, with the oxygen tank on his back and I knew I had no excuses. Big, small, costumed, cross-dressing. It was a good time.

5) Disney isn't like running a race in your hometown. We were out of the house around 4 am, trudging to our corral for 20+ minutes, and then at the park the days before the race and later that day. You can be tired going in and coming out which made it completely different than my other half experience.

6) Disney totally raises the bar. I know not everything can be like that, but as I ran, I loved that experience and while I had been planning for a Spring full marathon, I know I want my first to be an awesome experience on that level. <typed in giddy teen girl voice> I was eyeing one here in SC, but I'm going to hold off until the fall for probably Chicago or MCM (anybody game?) because I want to know that there will be others there with me, supportive and perhaps struggling, too. Hearing the occasional, "Good job, PH!" or "Keep going, PH!" was a great boost.

I enjoyed, it was great, everybody else join in the fun. And it was good to see nikuman post-race and to bask together in something slightly less virtual, though also quite surreal.

[Parrot Head]

One more follow up, big congrats to the nikumonster on his Goofy times. We were in awe as we followed along online Sunday morning.

(I was looking at the results hoping they would be sortable and while they were merely displayed on a PDF, I did notice a guy from Charlotte who ran a 1:17 and 2:48. Completely amazing.)

Here's a Goofy Challenge recap that my wife came across and she said that by the time she got to mile 22, they were out of water! I'm not sure how that happened but that is unbelievable and she said it resulted in unusual swelling. Here she is:

Here is a comparison shot on how swollen I was. Left was right before race start, right was after finish. You can sort of see how big my fingers were, too. So gross.

[Pheidippides]

One more follow up, big congrats to the nikumonster on his Goofy times. We were in awe as we followed along online Sunday morning.

(I was looking at the results hoping they would be sortable and while they were merely displayed on a PDF, I did notice a guy from Charlotte who ran a 1:17 and 2:48. Completely amazing.)

Here's a Goofy Challenge recap that my wife came across and she said that by the time she got to mile 22, they were out of water! I'm not sure how that happened but that is unbelievable and she said it resulted in unusual swelling. Here she is:

Totally can see that happening on a day like that. Those late finishers were tough! By 22 a lot of us were taking two and three cups of water, and that was before it was super hot. Likely they couldn't fill the cups as fast as people were taking them by that point. Not ideal conditions, that's for sure.

I maintain that anybody who has finished one marathon can finish the Goofy. You just have to be willing to pay a little bit of an extra price on Sunday for it.

Also, I'm willing to consider Chicago or MCM if I don't draw out for New York (very unlikely this year).

[Coach McGuirk]

The 2013 Disneyland Half is already 98% full after 2 days. It will be sold out today. I used to sign up for this race in July. Just wanted to give a heads up to those interested.

[Coach McGuirk]

The 2013 Disneyland Half is already 98% full after 2 days. It will be sold out today. I used to sign up for this race in July. Just wanted to give a heads up to those interested.

Sold out.

[Pheidippides]

Sold out.

Wow.

[Moliere]

I'm going to try running in the morning. Do an easy 3-4 miles. I can walk without limping and really no pain, but the muscle is tight. If it doesn't go well tomorrow morning than I might end up deferring my registration to next year and taking some time off to rest/heal.

[Parrot Head]

I learned a lesson in prep and planning today as I went out planning on 8-10 miles which I can handle without taking anything with me or much prep work. Due to some early morning work, I left just after noon when it had warmed up a bit and I thought I'd see if I could hit every street in my neighborhood.

After a while I finally checked the Garmin and saw that I was at 8.5 with more left than I had expected but as I kept going, I couldn't let myself stop and soon I was dragging. No water, Gu or anything and 14.15 miles later I finally landed on my doorstep and my legs were in horrible shape. I even felt weird twinges in my arms as I extended them and that was a little scary. The recovery time was longer than expected and I kind of felt like crap.

Oh well, run and learn. I will definitely plan better next time, but at least I hit a stupid, quirky goal that I had.

[ERCougar]

55 miles done this week.
It's not niku-like, but that's a high for me and I'm only week 2/18. My last two runs were not speedy, but my HR's always a little higher when I'm on nights. Body's holding up though--nothing really hurting.

Tomorrow will be a nice rest day.

*I'm not going to update you every week on this--I'm just pretty happy I could pull off that mileage without falling apart.

[Moliere]

I'm going to try running in the morning. Do an easy 3-4 miles. I can walk without limping and really no pain, but the muscle is tight. If it doesn't go well tomorrow morning than I might end up deferring my registration to next year and taking some time off to rest/heal.

I'm going to delay my marathon registration.

I ran on Thursday. Did a 5k. My leg hurts too much. I can run on it without changing my stride much but after I'm done it just hurts right on and around the achilles. If the marathon was tomorrow I'd probably not try to run it, but seeing as it's still over a month away there's no way I can still train and then run it. Plus, I doubt I'd make it over 5 miles before my leg starts to really burn, then I'd probably do some real damage.

I have until the 31st to delay my registration so I'll do that tomorrow. It just sucks to train a lot and to be feeling really good and then to all of the sudden have a freak injury wipe it all out. I think Niku is right that it's tough to just run a marathon without building up through other races. I think I'll try some 10Ks and half-marathons once I get healthy and then try for this same marathon next year.

[Pheidippides]

55 miles done this week.
It's not niku-like, but that's a high for me and I'm only week 2/18. My last two runs were not speedy, but my HR's always a little higher when I'm on nights. Body's holding up though--nothing really hurting.

Tomorrow will be a nice rest day.

*I'm not going to update you every week on this--I'm just pretty happy I could pull off that mileage without falling apart.

The difference between 55 and 70 is less than the difference between 40 and 55.

[Cupcake]

Have any of you run the San Diego Rock n Roll marathon? The website does not have the course map or finish up yet.